Sacha Baron Cohen’s Bruno just can’t keep his clothes on! Bruno posed for the cover of Britain’s Attitude Magazine, which from what I gather is somewhat like the UK’s version of the American gay-issues magazine The Advocate. Only Attitude mixes in a bit of cheeky (meaning literal butt cheeks) Details-esque pretty-boy photo shoots. So Bruno is totally naked for the cover – much like his Jennifer-Aniston-spoofing GQ cover, only this time, Bruno has a landing strip and he’s posing like Marilyn Monroe in her famous nude photos.

Many are saying that Sacha agreed to appear in a gay-issues magazine because he and the studio are worried that Bruno could create a hardcore backlash from the gay community. We’ve already heard some rumblings of that but nothing too serious. I’m not sure how much stock I put in the whole “Sacha is trying not to piss people off” theory, because the excerpts from the cover interview are totally crazy. Hint: Bruno calls Simon Cowell his “gay icon”:

Sacha Baron Cohen is hoping to win over some of his fiercest critics with his latest magazine offering. The Bruno star appears on the cover of Attitude this month following accusations from some sections of the gay community that his character promotes rather than satirises homophobia.

The controversial comedian, who plays a flamboyant Austrian designer in his latest big screen film, peeled right off for the front cover of the UK’s best selling gay magazine.

The photograph appears under the tag line: ‘Comedy genius of the most homophobic film ever made?’

In the interview, which Cohen conducted as his outrageous alter ego, he cites his favourite gay icons as X Factor boss Simon Cowell and singers Kylie and Dannii Minogue.

Bruno, who has also appeared on GQ and Marie Claire, said: ‘Simon Cowell is my gay icon. Ein totally straight man who dresses like he does and loves scheisse pop musik.’

‘And Kylie and Dannii [Minogue]? I love them. Kylie’s like ein Barbie doll zat’s been shrunk a little bit and Dannii is like a Kylie doll zat’s been left on the radiator for too long.’

The cover follows claims Bruno is offensive and perpetuates gay stereotyping.

Rashad Robinson, of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, said last month: ‘Some people in our community may like this movie, but many are not going to be OK with it. Sacha Baron Cohen’s well-meaning attempt at satire is problematic in many places and outright offensive in others.’

Actor Peter Paige, from US TV series Queer As Folk, echoed the sentiment, saying: ‘When you see a Bruno clip in a room full of gay men, everyone laughs and it’s fine. When you see a Bruno clip in a room full of straight men, they’re all laughing, and it’s a different thing. You start to go, “Hmmm, I don’t know how I feel about this.”‘

Claims were made that producers were forced to undertake ‘significant reshoots’ after preview audiences reacted angrily to the film.

Universal Pictures declined to confirm or deny the reports but in a statement, the studio said the ‘overwhelming majority of the audience’ would understand that the film seeks to lampoon homophobia.

[From The Daily Mail]

Page Six has another piece of the interview where Bruno calls Madonna a “transsexual child catcher.” We knew that Bruno would be going after Madge something fierce a long time ago – in the film, Bruno adopts an African child because, in his mind, an African child is the latest accessory to have. I saw a clip from Bruno, and apparently there’s a scene where Bruno picks up his African baby from some sort of FedEx-type situation. Which is not funny – and neither is Madonna sending some assistant down to hand-deliver Mercy, so art imitating life, et cetera.

Sacha Baron Cohen is shown at the Australian premiere of Bruno on 6/29/09. Credit: WENN.com and BARM/Fame Pictures